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Birth
Linus Benedict Torvalds was born on December 28, 1969, in Helsinki, Finland. -
First Experience with Unix
Torvalds began studying computer science at the University of Helsinki and encountered Unix, which would later influence his development of Linux. -
Creation of Linux
Torvalds started working on what would become the Linux kernel, a free, open-source alternative to Unix, while still a student. He made an initial announcement about the project on August 25, 1991, via a Usenet post. -
First Public Release of Linux
The first official version of Linux, version 0.12, was released in 1992 under the GNU General Public License, allowing others to contribute to its development. -
Linux 1.0 Released
Torvalds released Linux 1.0 on March 14, marking the first official stable release of the Linux kernel. release -
Creation of Git part 1
In 1996, the foundations of version control tools were being explored by Torvalds as part of the Linux development process. -
Linux Foundation Formation
The Linux Foundation was created in 1997, a nonprofit organization that supports the development of the Linux operating system. Torvalds continued to serve as the project’s lead developer. -
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Increased Corporate Adoption
Throughout the 2000s, Linux saw increasing use in enterprise settings, including servers, mobile devices (like Android), and embedded systems. -
Linux Kernel 2.6 Released
The release of version 2.6 was a significant milestone in the Linux kernel's development, adding many new features like support for new hardware and scalability improvements. 2.6 -
Official Creation of Git
Torvalds created Git in 2005 after a dispute with BitKeeper, the version control system that had been used for managing Linux’s source code. Git has since become the most popular version control system in the software industry. -
Linux Kernel 2.6.27 Released
Torvalds released Linux 2.6.27, which introduced the first version of the Linux kernel to support the Intel Core i7 processors. -
Development of Linux on Mobile Devices
The Android operating system, based on the Linux kernel, began to revolutionize mobile computing and became one of the most widely used operating systems for smartphones. -
Linux 3.0
The Linux kernel was updated to version 3.0. Torvalds decided to make this change after the kernel passed version 2.6.39, signaling a new era of development for the project. -
Linux Kernel 4.0 Released
Torvalds released Linux 4.0 in 2015, which included improvements in hardware support and performance. This version also added live patching support to make it easier to patch security vulnerabilities without rebooting. -
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Continued Leadership in Linux Development
Linus Torvalds continues to serve as the lead maintainer of the Linux kernel, guiding the development of Linux through significant contributions in performance, security, and scalability, with regular kernel releases every 2–3 months.